2023-11-06
TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING
City Council Chambers, 33 East Broadway Avenue Meridian, Idaho
Monday, November 06, 2023 at 3:30 PM
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Agenda
VIRTUAL MEETING INSTRUCTIONS
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ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE
_____ David Ballard _____ John Wasson, Ex-Officio - ACHD
_____ Zachary Shoemaker _____ Lila Klopfenstein, Ex-Officio
_____ Ryan Lancaster _____ David Reinhart, Ex-Officio - WASD
_____ Walter Steed _____ Alissa Taysom, Ex-Officio - VRT
_____ Tracy Hopkins _____ Justin Price, Ex-Officio - ITD
_____ Stephen Lewis
_____ Jared Smith
_____ Tom LeClaire
_____ Hoyoon Song
ADOPTION OF AGENDA [ACTION ITEM]
APPROVAL OF MINUTES [ACTION ITEM]
1. October 2, 2023
OLD BUSINESS [ACTION ITEM]
2. Transportation Project Updates
3. Intersection & Pedestrian Safety Task Force Report 2023
NEW BUSINESS [ACTION ITEM]
4. Ex-Officio Updates
5. Valley Regional Transit June 2024 Service Changes - Kate Dahl
6. Staff Communications
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS
7. Belltower and Coppercloud Speed Concerns
8. Lost Rapids at Bird Park
9. American Fork at Linder Crossing
10. ACHD Landscape Matrix Guide
NEXT MEETING - December 4, 2023
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting Minutes
Meridian Transportation Commission
Monday, November 6, 2023
Council Chambers – Meridian City Hall 33 East Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho
Roll Call (3:31pm)
o David Ballard o Stephen Lewis x John Wasson (ex-officio-ACHD)
x Zachary Shoemaker x Jared Smith x Lila Klopfenstein (ex-officio-COMPASS)
(Austin Miller)
o Ryan Lancaster x Tom LeClaire x David Reinhart (ex-officio-WASD)
x Walter Steed o Hoyoon Song x Alissa Taysom (ex-officio-VRT)
(Kate Dahl)
x Tracy Hopkins x Justin Price (ex-officio-ITD)
Others Present: Caleb Hood, Tishra Murray, Sgt. Tara Smith
Adoption of the Agenda
Motion by Commissioner Hopkins to adopt; 2nd by Commissioner LeClaire - All ayes; Passes
Approval of Minutes
1. October 2, 2023
Motion by Commissioner Hopkins to adopt; 2nd by Commissioner Shoemaker - All ayes; Passes
Old Business Items
2.Transportation Projects Update – C. Hood
Mr. Hood began on page 7 of the packet with the Meridian Intersection and Pedestrian Safety
Taskforce update; the final Report was presented to City Council on October 3rd.
Recommendations included in the Report will be moving forward.
It was noted that on Wednesday the sewer and water agreement with ACHD should be finalized
for the Lake Hazel Road, Locust Grove Road to Meridian Road project. The project is planned
for ROW in 2023 and CN in FY2024-25 in ACHD’s IFYWP.
Design is underway for the McMillian/Black Cat roundabout project. On October 17th, Staff
discussed with Council partnering with ACHD to improve some of the hardscape areas to include
landscaping. Council was supportive of this approach, a “Tier 1” effort. Mr. Brian McClure will
be presenting in the December meeting how the ACHD Capital Project Matrix works.
On page 9 of the packet, it was noted that Linder, Ustick to Pine (concept) is moving forward
and that during a future meeting, Brooke Green, the ACHD Project Manager will present on how
this section of road may look like in the future. New concept topics discussed include additional
shared roads, roundabout couplets for improved safety/access with turning restrictions, and
enhanced speed mitigation features to promote school and park access in this section.
Mr. Hood stood for questions. There was some further discussion.
3. Intersection & Pedestrian Safety Task Force Report 2023
It was noted that in the packet was the final version of the MIPS Report.
New Business Items [ACTION ITEM]
4. Ex-Officio Updates
John Wasson (ACHD) had no updates at this time.
Austin Miller (COMPASS) – COMPASS is kicking-off the first of two phases for its project
development program. Phase one is a high-level review of applications to see if projects are
eligible for federal funds. Last month they completed the regional housing coordination plan.
Housing and transportation are so intertwined in our community, the Feds have given the region
permission to look at coordinating housing amongst all COMPASS member agencies throughout
the Treasure Valley. Crystal Campbell with the City of Meridian has been a fantastic addition to
the work group. The COMPASS Board of Directors approved the 2024 state and federal
legislative positions recently. Those can be viewed on COMPASS’ website.
David Reinhart (WASD) – WASD has hired Miranda Carson, as the new Director of
Transportation and Planning. She will be representing the school district in a month or two at
the Transportation Commission meetings. WASD has begun to plan for the transition to Durham
as the bus provider for 2024/25. WASD is working with them to hire a director and to put things
in place for next year. They have bought 220 new buses to the tune of $35 million. So, they're
planning on being here for a while. The School District is reevaluating how they do schools of
choice. Some elementary schools function similar to charter schools and they have their own
unique busing situations.
Commissioner Steed posed the question if the school district owns rolling stock.
David Reinhard responded that WASD does still own in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 buses, but
that the contractor owns their own rolling stock. The School District is actively exploring how
to get the rest of the busses the District still owns into the hands of some of the middle schools
for activities like field trips. The busses Durham will be bringing will all be brand new and have all
the latest technology. In terms of video on board, that's an important piece to maintain some law
and order on school buses in particular on middle school routes.
There was some further discussion.
Justin Price (ITD) had no updates to provide.
5. Valley Regional Transit June 2024 Service Changes - K. Dahl
Kate Dahl introduced herself as a principal planner at Valley Regional Transit (VRT), stepping in
for Alissa today. Valley Regional Transit recently underwent a major network redesign that was
approved by the Board on October 2nd and she provided the update on changes.
VRT started looking at changes to the network primarily because of cost increases. VRT saw a
rise in labor costs, a number of other costs with inflation, and essentially, they were not going to
be able to offer the same level of service as that in years past. So, VRT began examining the
network, particularly taking a look at what were the lowest ridership, stops and routes were and
how they could really invest in the areas where they could increase ridership. This process started
last spring. VRT has gone through three different public engagement periods to get to this point.
VRT ended up discontinuing service on four routes. But they were able to still accommodate
those, at least at the high ridership stops, by rerouting other routes. VRT is looking to implement
service changes next summer, which is in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. VRT is expecting
it'll take a full year to realize increased ridership.
VRT is very excited with new CEO, Elaine Clegg, coming on board and her vision and all the
exciting stuff. So, VRT actually ended up increasing its budget, adding more service and improving
investments. VRT is shifting the bus stop signage color scheme to a frequency-based color scheme
and this is part of a new overall signage program. This should be easier for people to understand
what is offered.
The Route 30 is being rerouted to correspond with Route 45 to make it more convenient as well
as providing folks better access along the Pine corridor. VRT initially looked at eliminating the
Route 40, but have a very dedicated ridership that rides the Route 40 so, this was this was added
back and continues running through Meridian primarily on the Interstate.
Lyft Transit connections is a service that addresses first/last mile service issues. VRT subsidizes
Lyft rides with $2.00 rides. You can call Lyft to get to the nearest bus stop and get on the fixed
route. People that want to use that service will not only be able to travel around the Meridian
area, but with the expanded service area they'll also be able to go into Boise which will make it
much more convenient.
VRT is looking at adding over 100 new bus stops to implement service changes next summer
(June). VRT will have a whole new branding program and signage program which will be rolled
out in the spring.
Ms. Dahl stood for any questions. There was some further discussion.
6. Staff Communications – C. Hood
Mr. Hood began with an update that the Linder Road Overpass survey closed on November 2nd.
Over 200 people took the survey. A discussion about the design of the pedestrian bridge/railing
on McDermott Road. There was also some discussion about school parking around Meridian
High, and parents parking in the neighborhoods to avoid the traffic. ACHD will typically have the
school principal send out a letter to parents when parking becomes an issue. If necessary, it may
go to the Police Department to enforce any parking or trespassing violations.
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS
7. Belltower and Coppercloud Speed Concerns
8. Lost Rapids at Bird Park
9. American Fork at Linder Crossing
10. ACHD Landscape Matrix Guide
11. Linder Corridor (added during meeting)
12. November 30th Downtown Parking Meeting Update (added during meeting)
Next Meeting Date: December 4, 2023
Adjournment - Motion by Commissioner Hopkins; 2nd by Commissioner Shoemaker - All ayes
(AUDIO RECORDING AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)
APPROVED:
_______________________ _______________
WALTER STEED, CHAIR DATE
ATTEST:
________________________ _______________
CHRIS JOHNSON (City Clerk) DATE